Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong stands outside the Legislative Council building in Hong Kong, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2019.Kin Cheung/The Associated Press
Joshua Wong, a prominent leader of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement set to be released from jail later this year, has been hit with new national security charges.
Mr. Wong appeared in court Friday, where he was accused of “collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security,” a charge that can result in a prison sentence of as much as 10 years – or life if the offence is deemed to be of a “grave nature.”
A charge sheet says Mr. Wong worked with fellow activist Nathan Law, who fled Hong Kong in 2020, and “other individuals” to encourage foreign powers to impose sanctions against Hong Kong or otherwise “seriously obstruct” the work of the territory’s government.
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Once appearing on the cover of Time magazine as “the face of protest,” Mr. Wong led protests as a teenager against proposed patriotic education reforms before getting engaged in broader politics, launching his own political party with Mr. Law and playing a major role in the mass unrest that gripped Hong Kong in 2019.
After months of intense protests, Beijing imposed a draconian national security law on the territory the following year and quickly cracked down on the pro-democracy movement, arresting dozens of leading politicians and activists and forcing many into exile.
Police gather in Hong Kong's Causeway Bay district on June 4, 2025, where people traditionally gathered annually on June 4 to mourn the victims of China's Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989 - now banned following a national security law imposed on the city in 2020.PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images
Prior to Friday’s court appearance, Mr. Wong was already serving a 56-month prison sentence for his involvement in a 2020 election primary deemed to be an illegal conspiracy to undermine the government. Several of the “Hong Kong 47,” as the defendants in that case are known, have been released in recent months, having served most of their sentences by the time the case wrapped up last year. Mr. Wong – who received a lesser penalty after pleading guilty – was due for release in September.
Writing on social media, Michael Mo, a former Hong Kong district councillor now in exile in Britain, said the charges against Mr. Wong were part of a pattern of continued persecution of pro-democracy figures.
“This recent move suggests that they simply don’t want high profile activists leaving jail,” Mr. Mo said.